1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to sub-surface mapping in the oil and gas industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
Implementations of various techniques described herein are directed to mapping fracture clusters that exist in formations in the earth in an area of interest. In the oil and gas industry, wells may be drilled to extract hydrocarbons from reservoirs in the earth. Fractures intersecting drilled wells may assist the flow of hydrocarbons from the reservoir to which the fractures are connected and thereby increase production. Likewise, fractures may allow water to flow into wells decreasing hydrocarbon production. Therefore knowledge of fracture clusters locations may greatly assist in planning the locations of new wells.
Locations for new wells are typically selected based on various factors including discrete fracture network (DFN) models constructed by mapping fractures in the areas of interest. DFN models are 3-dimensional (3D) models of earth formations with expected fractures in an area. DFN models may be created by extrapolating fractures in inter-well spaces and interpolating fractures in areas between well controls based on theoretical models and statistical methods. Vertical and horizontal extents of these fractures may then be estimated based on structural or geo-statistical models that may or may not be accurate. Typically, 3D seismic data is not utilized in fracture mapping, even when available, because seismic data is not typically recorded at a coarse enough resolution to detect discrete fractures. Therefore, the current methods for fracture mapping and creating DFN models may be prone to error. A need exists in the art for an improved method to map fractures and construct DFN models.